The power disease

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Former Sen. John Burton blasts Malibu resident Sara Wan’s grab for the position as chair.

By Arnold York / Publisher

The old adage is that “power corrupts” and that “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The adage applies to kings, princes, governors and senators, and even to those who consider themselves above being corrupted because they serve a higher purpose, California Coastal commissioners.

Recently Malibu’s own Sara Wan was appointed chair of the Coastal Commission by a vote of the Coastal commissioners. The vote was something of a surprise. The scuttlebutt had been that another member, Mary Shallenberger, a friend and close ally of Wan, was due to become the chair. Shallenberger previously had been the environmental deputy for then-Sen. John Burton, who was the pro tem (actually the leader) of the state Senate and, as such, had made several appointments to the Coastal Commission, one of them being Wan.

Wan was never an easy appointment for a politician. She has many fans in the environmental movement, but she has also made many enemies along the way. Anyone who has ever sat at a Coastal meeting and watched Wan, as chair (she has served as chair once before), juggle the speaker slips so causes she favored came up early and the opposition usually put off to the end of the meeting, couldn’t help but come away with a feeling that they had been railroaded. Most politicians try to hide their power, but not Wan. She loves power and loves people knowing that she has power. She delights in rubbing everyone’s nose in her power and wants you to know that she’s doing it, which is one of the reasons Wan is detested by many, as, I certainly would venture, a significant portion of Malibu’s residents does.

I don’t yet know the details of how she maneuvered the chairmanship again, but she obviously had to have double-crossed her friend and ally Shallenberger. The rumor I heard was that Shallenberger was furious. There is nothing worse than being betrayed by a friend. But this time Wan may have overplayed her hand, because she also has clearly alienated Shallenberger’s former boss, Burton. Burton is a former everything—assemblyman, state senator, congressman, leader of the state senate and leader of the Democratic Party in California. Although he’s officially retired, he has many friends and remains politically active. He is also one of the blunter human beings on the planet; in fact, he’s famous, or rather infamous for his artistic profanity, particularly his variations on the use of the f— word. The other day he sent Wan a letter expressing his dismay at her conduct in snatching the chair of the commission from Shallenberger. I could paraphrase what he said, but I couldn’t do him justice so we’re reprinting the entire letter. It’s short, to the point, particularly pithy and definitely in the John Burton idiom.

The strangest part of all this, is that Wan is up for reappointment this spring. The new leader of the senate, Darryl Steinberg of Sacramento, is the appointing authority. Wan, after 16 years on the commission, is apparently of the opinion that she is indestructible, and in her lust for power and control has thrown caution to the wind. I suspect she may get caught up in a windstorm.